Luke veered sharply to the right onto the path that would take him to Waylon Corners as the Mantooths struggled to keep up.
He reached down to switch the CB to channel 47 just in time to hear Cooter's voice.
"Everybody home on the Hazzard 'net?"
"Right here Cooter." Jesse replied.
"Yeah, me too." Luke added. "Jesse, how far away are ya?"
"''bout a minute and a half. Luke, you sure it's a good idea to meet there? I mean with Rosco and Enos on the way?"
"Ain't got no choice, Shephard. When we meet, I'm gonna toss you a gym bag. After you get it, I want you to work on getting Enos off by himself and give him that bag. If we can somehow get the only honest member of the Hazzard County police force to listen to our side of the story, theirs a good chance I'm not gonna get in near as much trouble as I could."
"Well what side of the story would that be? You ain't told me nothin' about what's goin' on with you and you still ain't told me what's goin' on with Bo!"
"Get ready shepherd, I'm roundin' the bend."
Luke dropped the CB and veered sharply to the right, the post that marked Waylon Corners illuminated in his headlights dead ahead as he headed north. Directly opposite, he spied the one working headlight of the pickup truck rushing up to pass him on his left.
As the two vehicles neared each other, they slowed. Luke was able to toss the bag perfectly into Daisy's window without having to come to a complete stop. As the vehicles increased speed once again, the blue flashing lights of Rosco and Enos's cars came barreling in from the east.
Rosco caught sight of the General and gave chase with Enos close behind. As Enos made his turn, Cooter arrived on the scene from the west, just in enough time to meet up with the Mantooths who were still following Luke. Charlie wasn't dumb. He knew that the slowing pickup truck and General Lee most likely meant that a handoff had taken place. They spun around to chase Daisy, and Cooter veered to the right to follow them.
"Lost Sheep, ya might wanna do a one-eighty. Our boys just saw their golden moment and are nibblin' on Bo-Peep's tail feathers."
"Ten-four Crazy C. Bo-Peep how ya doin' so far?" Luke asked as he spun his vehicle around, the back tires slipping in wet Georgia red clay.
"OK so far Luke. I don't know who these guys are or why they're chasing me, but they haven't got ahold of me yet. Can't seem to shake 'em though."
"Just hang on, Bo Peep." Luke replied as he heard a crash behind him. He looked in the rearview mirror and spied the headlights of the two patrol cars at odd angles in the road, apparently having hit one another as they attempted to turn around and pursue Luke. "You still on Dogwood Lane south?"
"Ten-four Luke. I just passed the driveway that leads up to Carly's old place, best I can tell. It's hard to tell, goin' this fast in the dark."
Luke's jaw flinched at the thought. How ironic. Now that things looked like they were about to come to an end, one way or another, he found himself in the exact same spot as where it all started.
"Ok Bo Peep, that means you're just a stone's throw from Cool Springs Circle. You'll go around that big curve before you get there. Once you're outta site of those guys that's on your tail, swing onto the Circle and kill your lights."
"Okay, Luke." Daisy replied as the curve loomed ahead. She spun into the curve as quickly as she could and turned the pickup onto the Circle.
"Careful Daisy!" Jesse exclaimed as the pickup slid on the on the slippery red-clay. The vehicle finally came to a rest when the right front tire slipped off the road, dangling in mid-air over the ditch. Hearing the roar of the Mantooths' engine coming up fast, Daisy quickly reached down and switched off the lights just in the nick of time.
"You alright, Uncle Jesse?" Daisy asked as the Mantooths went barreling by with Cooter in pursuit, the pickup unnoticed.
"Only physically." Jesse muttered as Daisy picked up the CB.
"Lost Sheep, the plan worked but I'm afraid we're outta the game. We slid in the mud and got stuck out here."
"You're far from out." Luke replied. "Now's the time for you to turn back over to 36 and ask Enos for help. When you get ahold of him, give him the bag."
"And what are we supposed to tell him when we give him that bag? There ain't a bit of this makin' any sense to me and I want some answers, especially if it's got somethin' to do with Bo!" Jesse demanded, having grabbed the CB from Daisy's hand as Luke passed by in the background, being chased by Enos and Rosco once again.
"Shepherd…." Luke began, not wanting to explain things but wanting his uncle to know why the events of the previous few days had taken place should he not make it out of this alive. "…..the folks that are chasing us, that's the Mantooth gang."
Jesse thought a minute. "The ones that robbed J.D.'s bank last year?"
"Affirmative. They felt me 'n Bo cheated them outta that money when we turned 'em in, so they busted outta jail and come to collect it- from us. That's why I borrowed that money from Billy Kay……….and stole that mail bag………..and
"And?" Jesse pressed.
" and……..robbed Boss's Bank."
Luke could only imagine the look on Jesse's face when nothing but dead air met him in response.
Jesse sat in his pickup truck, the exact look that Luke imagined etched onto his face. He looked at Daisy in shock as the CB cracked to life again. "Go ahead 'n get ahold of Enos I know you're wonderin' why I went so far to get that money for them. The answer to that…." Luke continued "………can be found in the photos that are in that gym bag."
XXXXXXXX
"Where'd that truck go, Charlie?" Horace asked as his brother squinted at the road ahead in the darkened conditions.
"It got away!" Charlie exclaimed, slamming his fist on the steering wheel. "Dang it! We had all that money in our hands and now there's no way to recover it!"
"Well maybe there is, Charlie." Horace suggested as Cooter's headlights bore down on them. "I mean, he can't turn that money into the police without going to jail. They already think he's guilty of robbery. Maybe we can call him, offer to let him know where the grave is in exchange for getting the money back." He added as he pushed the CB button, preparing to call Luke.
"We can't do that!" Charlie objected. "He's done told that dang mechanic friend of his who we are! If the police find out we's the ones who forced him into robbin' that bank they'll have every FBI agent within a fifty mile radius coverin' these roads lookin' for us like a colony of ants. The best thing for us to do is shake these hayseeds and git out of town 'fore we're caught and sent back to the pokey. And as sure as my name is Charlie Mantooth, I ain't goin' back there!"
"Me neither!...Horace grinned. "Sure as my name is Jasper Horace Mantooth the Third!"
Charlie rolled his eyes, then grinned himself. "'Least them dang Dukes is gonna get their just rewards! Bo Duke's gonna suffer and die right where he's buried!"
Horace laughed knowingly as Charlie tried to shake the chase parade, which began with Cooter, included Luke, and ended with Rosco.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Possum on a gumbush!" Enos exclaimed as he examined the pictures of Bo in his headlights. Daisy and Jesse stood behind him, looking as if it were all they could do to support one another in a standing position after the shocking revelation.
Enos continued to flip the photos until he finally reached the final one that had been taken. His brow creased in concentration as he scanned the photo. "Why this is the Oldfield Cemetery!" He exclaimed, slapping the print. Jesse and Daisy rushed forward as he put his finger on a grave in the background, the stone labeled with the name 'Strait'.
"That's my granny and grandpappy's stone. I'd know it anywhere!"
"Well what are we waitin' for? Let's git over there!" Jesse exclaimed, hurriedly leading the group to the patrol car where they all filed in.
"I gotta tell the sheriff!" Enos exclaimed, picking up the CB as he backed away from the stuck pickup truck. "This is Deputy Enos Strait calling Sheriff Rosco. Sheriff, please come in!"
"I'm gonna go back to 36, see what's goin' on with Rosco." Luke announced to Cooter, turning back the dial. Cooter decided to do the same thing as Rosco's reply came in.
"I can't talk to you now, Enos." Rosco replied, sounding a bit distressed. "I'm in hot pursuit of the Mantooth gang that robbed Boss's bank last year. As a matter of fact, I need you're help catching them. From what I heard 'em say, it sounds like they killed Bo Duke."
Charlie frowned in confusion at Rosco's statement. He looked at Horace, who sat with the CB still in his hand, the button pressed.
The car swerved slightly as Charlie reached over and jerked the CB from his brother's hand. "How can ya be so…." He began. "You had the button pressed! They heard everything we just said!"
Charlie clinched his teeth as he looked in his mirror, the parade still in pursuit.
"We know what they done, sheriff. We got the pictures right here. Bo's buried up at the Oldfield Cemetery!"
"The Oldfield Cemetery!" Cooter exclaimed. "That's the one that's just off Hwy 225 on the way into Chickasaw County!"
"We're on our way!" Luke exclaimed, veering off the beaten path to make his own road cross-country, Cooter following on his heels.
"Horace. Take the wheel." Charlie instructed his brother.
"Why?" Horace felt compelled to ask as Enos closed in behind Rosco once again while Luke and Cooter disappeared far behind them.
"Because we're gonna bust them cops tires out, and with your track record, I can't trust you to hit your target."
As Charlie climbed in the back to load his gun, Horace slid over and assumed driving duties. While he loaded, Rosco sent a couple of his own shots their way, hoping to bust out their tires as well. But Rosco couldn't shoot and drive at the same time in broad daylight, much less at dark.
"Enos, we gotta go over to Oldfield Cemetery right now!" Daisy pleaded.
"I'm sorry, Daisy, but these guys needs to be put behind bars where they can't hurt no more innocent people. They're dangerous. I can't leave the sheriff to handle things by himself."
Daisy sat back in the backseat, tears coming to her eyes while Jesse sat in front, his eyes closed and his head bowed against folded hands. Enos swallowed as he looked at the pair, afraid of the outcome. He had seen the oxygen tank in the photo, but how long had it been since someone had checked it, with everything that had gone on that evening?
Enos was shaken away from his thoughts and back to reality as he heard a shot ring out in his direction. Rosco's car bounced wildly before spinning sideways in the road, coming to an abrupt halt.
Enos swerved to miss the stalled car, his own patrol car going off the road. As he looked ahead, what he saw horrified him.
The car went airborne as it drove off of a riverbank! As the bank on the other side came rushing up to meet them, Jesse, Daisy and Enos let out collective gasps!
Seeing the events unfold, Charlie grinned as he climbed back in the window, the sound of the terrible crash vibrating through the air behind him. Horace looked in his rearview mirror. No one was following him. At last!
"That was great, Charlie!" Horace exclaimed as Charlie climbed into the front passenger's seat. "Now we can high tail it outta town without a worry!"
"Not just yet." Charlie replied, checking his revolver, seeing the five shots that were remaining. "Make a quick trip by that cemetery. I got a few more bullets to burn."
Well let's see. Jesse Daisy and Enos are caught up in a car wreck, the General's been wrecked, Boss's been robbed, Rosco's stuck with a busted tire and overtime, and Luke and Cooter are fixin' ta get shot at. Ya know, I'm about to wonder if ole' Bo didn't get the better end of the deal in all this.